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Grafity's Wall Expanded Edition
When an aspiring street artist by the name of Grafity watches the tenements outside his home being razed, he finds an unlikely canvas at the one wall still left standing in the debris. Over the next weeks, he begins creating a mural on the wall, one that chronicles the lives of his a local low-level fixer named Jay who harbours dreams of being a rapper. A brilliant and awkward boy named Chasma who writes love letters between shifts waiting tables at a local Chinese restaurant. And Saira, an aspiring actress with ambitions so fierce that they threaten to consume her and all those around her. As the mural progresses, the story gives us glimpses into these incandescent lives, their hopes and dreams both inspired and impeded by the impossible city that they live in.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published October 4, 2018
17 people are currently reading
519 people want to read
About the author
Ram V
486 books357 followersRam V (Ramnarayan Venkatesan) is an author and comic book writer from Mumbai, India. His comics career began in 2012 with the award-nominated Indian comic series, Aghori. A graduate of the City University of London’s Creative Writing MA, he has since created the critically acclaimed Black Mumba and the fantasy adventure series, Brigands.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
March 31, 2020
A snapshot in the lives of 4 young people struggling to make it in Mumbai. I'd say it's a look into a culture we don't see much of in the U.S. but this wasn't much different than a story here about kids growing up in the slums. I didn't care for the art at all. It was way too busy with inconsistent faces and poor coloring.
Received a review copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
Received a review copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
August 7, 2020
An explosion of colors will invest you as you pace through this story based in Mumbai. The writing is clever, genuine and soulful. As a personal taste, I didn’t “love” the style of the drawings, in particular the people, but then I am very particular about people’s faces in comics: if the same character is drawn 3 times with 3 different noses in the same page, (like it happens in this book) that spoils a lot of the beauty for me. Still giving the book 4 stars because it’s a real masterwork and clearly a lot of love went into it, including the many specific details about life in Mumbai. Highly recommended.
November 3, 2021
Despite being set in India, this is a fairly bland coming-of-age tale about a group of four friends who all want to spend their lives being creative -- an artist, a rapper, a writer, and an actress -- as they scrabble each day for money to live and the chance for that big breakthrough moment. Two of them are involved with a drug dealer, so some violence and theft are inevitable but do little to make the story less dull.
March 2, 2021
After being impressed by the Image comic Blue in Green by Ram V and Anand RK, I wanted to read from these creators, who made their breakout collaboration with the 2018 title, Grafity’s Wall, now published as a hardcover expanded edition by Dark Horse. Set within the slums of Mumbai, the story centres on four kids, each with their own goals and desires, but can they break away from the harsh reality of family tradition, police corruption and street crime, and achieve their better tomorrow?
Split into four chapters, each one centres on one of the four kids, what are they aspire to be, and what are the obstacles they have to confront. The first chapter, for instance, is about Grafity AKA Suresh is an aspiring graffiti artist, not respected by the law enforcement, let alone his family, specifically his dad who tells him not to dream so much. Because of where he’s from, Grafity likes the idea of being somewhere he’s meant to be, as if sneaking into another world and leaving a mark. This can apply to the rest of the young protagonists, who all want to get out of their own childhoods.
In terms of the obstacles, the closest to a main antagonist is the gangster Mario, who is at least a foil to Jayesh, who does seedy jobs to support himself and his grandmother. Instead of having an education like aspiring writer Chasma, he would revel in the luxuries in the jobs he takes without realising the consequences. The same can be said with the girl Saira, who wants to escape from the pervy clutches of Mario and wants to become an actress. As a crime narrative, the comic does fall into the conventions we’ve seen in the crime genre, but Ram V cleverly uses the chaptering that goes from setting up one character’s arc to the next, eventually building to a climax that wraps up each arc.
However, the most striking thing about Grafity’s Wall is showcasing the childhood for the four kids, each with their distinct voices. Without the harsh reality from adults in their lives, they embrace one another’s company, such as in the last chapter where you see all four interacting in the cinema. As rough as their circumstances can be, there is an upbeat charm that appears throughout the book. The third chapter is the standout part with Chasma narrating the chapter through writing his letters, which will never be sent, but serve more as a journal for himself about where life is taking him. This is Ram V at his melancholic best and would be reflected in Blue in Green.
Considering that street art is a key theme here, in how it experiments with style without the worry of consistency, the same can be said with the work by Anand RK, who plays around different panel grids, from nine panels to sixteen. There is a looseness to the characters’ anatomy, but they all look lived in, as does the incredibly detailed backgrounds. As for the street art depicted here, there may not be a lot of it, but it is psychedelic and proof why street art should be classed as high art.
Reading Grafity’s Wall reminded me of Taiyō Matsumoto’s Tekkonkinkreet, in that both works centre on children trying to escape the harshness of the city, told through a unique art-style that inspired by French comics artists. Grafity’s Wall, however, has its own identity that is a masterclass of art and feels, from melancholy to upbeat.
Split into four chapters, each one centres on one of the four kids, what are they aspire to be, and what are the obstacles they have to confront. The first chapter, for instance, is about Grafity AKA Suresh is an aspiring graffiti artist, not respected by the law enforcement, let alone his family, specifically his dad who tells him not to dream so much. Because of where he’s from, Grafity likes the idea of being somewhere he’s meant to be, as if sneaking into another world and leaving a mark. This can apply to the rest of the young protagonists, who all want to get out of their own childhoods.
In terms of the obstacles, the closest to a main antagonist is the gangster Mario, who is at least a foil to Jayesh, who does seedy jobs to support himself and his grandmother. Instead of having an education like aspiring writer Chasma, he would revel in the luxuries in the jobs he takes without realising the consequences. The same can be said with the girl Saira, who wants to escape from the pervy clutches of Mario and wants to become an actress. As a crime narrative, the comic does fall into the conventions we’ve seen in the crime genre, but Ram V cleverly uses the chaptering that goes from setting up one character’s arc to the next, eventually building to a climax that wraps up each arc.
However, the most striking thing about Grafity’s Wall is showcasing the childhood for the four kids, each with their distinct voices. Without the harsh reality from adults in their lives, they embrace one another’s company, such as in the last chapter where you see all four interacting in the cinema. As rough as their circumstances can be, there is an upbeat charm that appears throughout the book. The third chapter is the standout part with Chasma narrating the chapter through writing his letters, which will never be sent, but serve more as a journal for himself about where life is taking him. This is Ram V at his melancholic best and would be reflected in Blue in Green.
Considering that street art is a key theme here, in how it experiments with style without the worry of consistency, the same can be said with the work by Anand RK, who plays around different panel grids, from nine panels to sixteen. There is a looseness to the characters’ anatomy, but they all look lived in, as does the incredibly detailed backgrounds. As for the street art depicted here, there may not be a lot of it, but it is psychedelic and proof why street art should be classed as high art.
Reading Grafity’s Wall reminded me of Taiyō Matsumoto’s Tekkonkinkreet, in that both works centre on children trying to escape the harshness of the city, told through a unique art-style that inspired by French comics artists. Grafity’s Wall, however, has its own identity that is a masterclass of art and feels, from melancholy to upbeat.
October 19, 2018
It finally arrived! I'm really proud to have supported Ram V, Amand RK and Aditya Bidkar's Grafity's Wall via Unbound. It's a coming of age graphic novel set in the backdrop of Mumbai's street culture, following the lives of four friends. All of whom I loved, there was something about Chasma that I adored.
The artwork was excellent, hopefully I can get my hands on a print!
I can't wait for you all to read it from 15th November.
The artwork was excellent, hopefully I can get my hands on a print!
I can't wait for you all to read it from 15th November.
September 26, 2020
four children in mumbai are united by conditions at a broken-down wall - one that will end up being a canvas for the image of their lives in a spot that both moves and persecutes, unpredictably, and in equivalent measure.
this is an exemplary curve of a story about growing up. i perceive these inclinations, through my time was spent wearing an old band shirt while working in a nearby studio as opposed to attempting to abstain from being pounding by my aggressive father. this is extremely human and strongly conspicuous to any individual who has ever been youthful and needed more.
it is likewise very mumbai. i'm assuming that. i've never been there, yet with the life in these pages, i can just expect this is the thing that it seems like supposing that it wasn't addressing some fact, it wouldn't hit as hard or be as lively as it may be.
there are essentially four short stories here, however the telling turns, between minutes which work in a customary account mode, and minutes which are about the feeling of a spot. the boards move, from viewpoint to angle over the city, and it beats before your eyes.
i have no clue about how it was composed. i can dare to dream that more individuals compose along these lines.
this is a comics vision of a city, of companions, of life.
this is an exemplary curve of a story about growing up. i perceive these inclinations, through my time was spent wearing an old band shirt while working in a nearby studio as opposed to attempting to abstain from being pounding by my aggressive father. this is extremely human and strongly conspicuous to any individual who has ever been youthful and needed more.
it is likewise very mumbai. i'm assuming that. i've never been there, yet with the life in these pages, i can just expect this is the thing that it seems like supposing that it wasn't addressing some fact, it wouldn't hit as hard or be as lively as it may be.
there are essentially four short stories here, however the telling turns, between minutes which work in a customary account mode, and minutes which are about the feeling of a spot. the boards move, from viewpoint to angle over the city, and it beats before your eyes.
i have no clue about how it was composed. i can dare to dream that more individuals compose along these lines.
this is a comics vision of a city, of companions, of life.
September 30, 2018
I'm not a frequent graphic novel reader, and I don't have the critical equipment to make useful comments about this book, but my daughter edited it, and was instrumental in its existence. The story is well done, and the atmosphere is good: it's over twenty years since I spent time in Mumbai, but I can feel the place in the artwork.
February 15, 2024
This graphic novel explores the usual issues you expect: the aches and pains of growing up, trying to find your path and identity, the prevalence of income inequality, the ubiquity of ethnocentrism, the age-old problem of men who prey upon vulnerable women and poor kids, and the persistent disappointment of parents.
But, this story adds a little more to all of those concepts. The setting is tough to see, and even the characters are drawn to look a little gritty.
The authors give Westerners a glimpse of a world they know little about: Mumbai, a city so densely crowded (with a high concentration of the powerless), that it's hard to stand out as an individual, even if one has talent. The rich take over wherever and whenever they want. The authorities are deeply corrupt.
The juxtaposition of the razing of a slum tenememt building, and society's rejection of the more impractical artistic pursuits, are instances of the same process: the stifling of dreams, even the suppression of self-worth.
Among the group of friends in this story, there are many lessons, all learned over a very short period of time. None have the luxury of learning how to become an adult, while in a bubble. These kids have been exposed for some time to the cruel machinations of a world that wants to chew them up and spit them out.
How do people resist being crushed by this environment? They make their mark. In the case of the MC, a young street artist Suresh (Grafity), making his mark on the world is his literal goal. The remnant of wall still standing after the demolition of the tenement building, is a perfect canvas for his expression of defiance, a metaphor for his claim that he matters.
But, this story adds a little more to all of those concepts. The setting is tough to see, and even the characters are drawn to look a little gritty.
The authors give Westerners a glimpse of a world they know little about: Mumbai, a city so densely crowded (with a high concentration of the powerless), that it's hard to stand out as an individual, even if one has talent. The rich take over wherever and whenever they want. The authorities are deeply corrupt.
The juxtaposition of the razing of a slum tenememt building, and society's rejection of the more impractical artistic pursuits, are instances of the same process: the stifling of dreams, even the suppression of self-worth.
Among the group of friends in this story, there are many lessons, all learned over a very short period of time. None have the luxury of learning how to become an adult, while in a bubble. These kids have been exposed for some time to the cruel machinations of a world that wants to chew them up and spit them out.
How do people resist being crushed by this environment? They make their mark. In the case of the MC, a young street artist Suresh (Grafity), making his mark on the world is his literal goal. The remnant of wall still standing after the demolition of the tenement building, is a perfect canvas for his expression of defiance, a metaphor for his claim that he matters.
August 9, 2023
The art and atmosphere of the illustrations are insanely well done. In accordance with the chaos of the slums of Mumbai the narration too gets a bit fuzzy and follows several characters, sometimes letting the story arcs converge, sometimes leaving open ends. What makes Grafity's Wall an especially enjoyable read is how all pieces fit together: the art, the characters, the slang, the narrative techniques evoke a very special atmosphere and form a unitary piece of art. I'm very happy I found this gem!
January 13, 2019
The art is expressive and lively, the colours sumptuous and the lettering absolutely gorgeous - and they all play into making this tale of friendship and creativity in Mumbai something special. Slice of life, but interjected with insights into why people make art, how they try and connect with one another, it's a special book.
January 20, 2024
A story of 3 friends and a migrant women in Mumbai. They are thrown together by circumstances. The narrative follows their own stories in their voices until they converge in spectacular fashion at the end in a climax. The story is nice and the artwork psychedelic. The story has a nice buildup and narration is like a slick indie movie. Growing up in Mumbai I could relate to scenes such as the chawl and the demolitions to build new structures (Redevelopment and gentrification). A nice read 3.5 *
March 20, 2022
Loved this! A vibrant, poignant exploration of life in Mumbai as told by a graffiti artist. The ending was just perfection!
May 7, 2025
the art is gorg but the story was v boring icl
August 21, 2023
Bought it as I really enjoyed These Savage Shores and Blue In Green. Short, scruffy, tender little tale of life in Mumbai. Not a world-changer and I didn't LOVE the art but it hit the mark for me.
Was neatly paced. The ending, epilogue and extra notes enhanced it too. Ram V remains a reason to buy.
Was neatly paced. The ending, epilogue and extra notes enhanced it too. Ram V remains a reason to buy.
September 29, 2020
Such an authentic-feeling, emotionally compelling story set on the poorer fringes of Mumbai. Each of the four young dreamers in the friend group it follows are interesting, but I especially loved the stories of Chasma the aspiring writer waiting tables to pay for classes and Jay the aspiring MC who’s running for a dealer in the meantime. Mumbai itself is a great character too, with its inequality and the constant hustle it demands of anyone hoping to grab onto a rare opportunity to make their dreams come true before they’re chewed up. The vibrant art has a loose energy that mostly looks great, with colors that are unique and attractive.
“Like sneaking into someone else’s world and leaving a mark. They have to erase it, you see. Paint over it. You can’t unsee it.”
“He would confess to me later that he wanted to ask her to stay. To plead with her if he had to. He loved her, you see. But in the way that you’d love a dream. Not the thing itself but what it could be.”
“The city wasn’t the kind of place where you accumulated belongings. Everything and everyone was constantly in flux. It was home as long as you needed it to be. But when you left, there was no baggage.”
“Like sneaking into someone else’s world and leaving a mark. They have to erase it, you see. Paint over it. You can’t unsee it.”
“He would confess to me later that he wanted to ask her to stay. To plead with her if he had to. He loved her, you see. But in the way that you’d love a dream. Not the thing itself but what it could be.”
“The city wasn’t the kind of place where you accumulated belongings. Everything and everyone was constantly in flux. It was home as long as you needed it to be. But when you left, there was no baggage.”
April 5, 2020
This was alright there were some good points to it. I really liked the use of color and the pacing of it. I think the use of the four different character's was both helpful and hurtful. It was helpful in that there were all these different views of the city and what the best way to move above it were (in terms of trying to get out of the slum). It was hurtful in that I never really felt like I could get to any of the character's deeply, they all turned into ideas at the end. This was further developed with the Epilogue calling out the silliness of approval/disproval of spray paint art and ending the story with such finality. It just didn't feel as strong then if the Epilogue wasn't included, and we got to assume what we wanted for the ending.
Read
August 13, 2020I thought this was pretty good. It’s four interconnected stories about friends living in Mumbai, mostly hanging out on the streets. One is a graffiti artist, another a drug runner, the third an introverted writer. This is coming-of-age book then, a look at people in a specific environment arriving at decisions about what to do with their lives. There are many stories similar to this, but I found it well-written with a handful of good lines. The art, while ugly at first glance, has a grittiness and color scheme that suits the story. And be sure to read the essay by the letterer at the end - a fascinating look at hand-lettering.
March 9, 2020
This was a beautiful little book. Four chapters describe the lives of four friends in Mumbai. Each one dreams of a future in a city that is both extraordinarily vibrant and inexorable. Author Ram V and artist Anand R K really capture life in this city, the good and the bad, through a series of interconnected slice-of-life moments that feel genuine and heartfelt. The art is atmospheric and beautiful and interesting.
July 30, 2020
I enjoyed the art, unusual as it is. Chasma's story was my favorite. Saira's was a little disappointing and didn't actually have a lot to do with her inner life.
A lot of local phrases thrown in but without an asterisk/footnote I skimmed those parts. They were probably just curses.
A lot of local phrases thrown in but without an asterisk/footnote I skimmed those parts. They were probably just curses.
March 18, 2021
I had a higher rating for this before, but I can not remember the story well.. and I read it recently. so I guess it did not really leave a big impression on me, but it was worth reading
December 5, 2020
Crackling with late-evening heat and buoyant from the scent of vegetarian Manchurian, the India-style Japanese restaurant, with its sepia-toned floors and stuffy seating that crowds the edges, fills the lungs of Mumbai with as many sounds, smells, and garish predilections for class bias as anywhere else. "They're nowhere people," a young waiter and future poet says of its denizens. "And so, they're everywhere people. Maybe one day, I'll know what it's like to feel that way."
A middle-aged man teases a crippled cigarette and gazes, without really seeing, upon the sentimental busybodies who run and fall and shirk and pray (and prey) in a city settling into night, itself choked by an aquamarine-gray sky and a multitude of flat, listless leaden clouds. "Nothing is made here, in this place, not anymore," the man says to his son, eliding a look in the eye to observe a bruise on the boy's right cheek. "Everything is manufactured. Everything is bought and sold, you understand? Don't dream so much. It's painful to watch."
Thumbing her prayer beads with calm efficiency, watching with pale brown eyes as incense smoke dithers and lifts and lifts and dithers, and biding her time until the sun-dried sago cakes are ready to be pulled back indoors -- Aji, grandmother to an aspiring hip-hop youth whose only true vice is to survive as a drug-running underling, squints hard and exhales her sympathies upon telling her grandson about a job prospect. "You live under the sun for too long and it'll dry you up from the inside," she says. "In this parched place, you learn to make do with what you have before the thirst becomes all-consuming."
GRAFITY'S WALL occupies an underserved canvas of comics and animation media -- the "own voices" threshold of daily life often neglected amid the urge (rush) to forestall reality with every tasteless gamble available to genre fiction. Sun-scalded concrete, feverishly crowded streets, and innumerable human encounters full of color beyond color that always overwhelm the senses. Mumbai is a city of many, for the simple reason that contained within, bursting its stay with each passing second, are themselves, the many.
Visually, this graphic novel takes the amorphous uncertainty and lack of delineation for which many know Mumbai to be and crafts a through-narrative involving a handful of youths whose future is, unsurprisingly, in flux. Sometimes weak, inconsistent, and lacking the teeth to cut through the noise, GRAFITY'S WALL soon finds its rhythm, and readers best pay attention lest they become lost in the fray. For whom is this chaotic rhythm of value? A wannabe superstar who peddles club drugs. A wannabe artist who is frequently arrested for petty graffiti. A wannabe film star who gambles affections for a shot at stardom. A wannabe public intellectual who tolerates racism and bigotry because he believes, deep down, it's okay to survive being a weirdo.
The value of detail rests in the comfort it gives those who seem intrinsically uncomfortable with the state of things. This graphic novel pushes and pulls its characters through the myriad odd, crazy, and sometimes dangerous circumstances native to slum life; native to big-city, small-world ethos; and native to the whining, chiding grit that forces children into becoming adults. Tacky movie theaters. The rubble of a downed neighborhood. A pop-up music festival. And blocks over, a lush, high-rise apartment complex. How does one fathom individuality among this morass of dry poverty and shapeshifting hope? Growing up is never easy. Far less so in a city that refuses to acknowledge the frills of youth as such.
A middle-aged man teases a crippled cigarette and gazes, without really seeing, upon the sentimental busybodies who run and fall and shirk and pray (and prey) in a city settling into night, itself choked by an aquamarine-gray sky and a multitude of flat, listless leaden clouds. "Nothing is made here, in this place, not anymore," the man says to his son, eliding a look in the eye to observe a bruise on the boy's right cheek. "Everything is manufactured. Everything is bought and sold, you understand? Don't dream so much. It's painful to watch."
Thumbing her prayer beads with calm efficiency, watching with pale brown eyes as incense smoke dithers and lifts and lifts and dithers, and biding her time until the sun-dried sago cakes are ready to be pulled back indoors -- Aji, grandmother to an aspiring hip-hop youth whose only true vice is to survive as a drug-running underling, squints hard and exhales her sympathies upon telling her grandson about a job prospect. "You live under the sun for too long and it'll dry you up from the inside," she says. "In this parched place, you learn to make do with what you have before the thirst becomes all-consuming."
GRAFITY'S WALL occupies an underserved canvas of comics and animation media -- the "own voices" threshold of daily life often neglected amid the urge (rush) to forestall reality with every tasteless gamble available to genre fiction. Sun-scalded concrete, feverishly crowded streets, and innumerable human encounters full of color beyond color that always overwhelm the senses. Mumbai is a city of many, for the simple reason that contained within, bursting its stay with each passing second, are themselves, the many.
Visually, this graphic novel takes the amorphous uncertainty and lack of delineation for which many know Mumbai to be and crafts a through-narrative involving a handful of youths whose future is, unsurprisingly, in flux. Sometimes weak, inconsistent, and lacking the teeth to cut through the noise, GRAFITY'S WALL soon finds its rhythm, and readers best pay attention lest they become lost in the fray. For whom is this chaotic rhythm of value? A wannabe superstar who peddles club drugs. A wannabe artist who is frequently arrested for petty graffiti. A wannabe film star who gambles affections for a shot at stardom. A wannabe public intellectual who tolerates racism and bigotry because he believes, deep down, it's okay to survive being a weirdo.
The value of detail rests in the comfort it gives those who seem intrinsically uncomfortable with the state of things. This graphic novel pushes and pulls its characters through the myriad odd, crazy, and sometimes dangerous circumstances native to slum life; native to big-city, small-world ethos; and native to the whining, chiding grit that forces children into becoming adults. Tacky movie theaters. The rubble of a downed neighborhood. A pop-up music festival. And blocks over, a lush, high-rise apartment complex. How does one fathom individuality among this morass of dry poverty and shapeshifting hope? Growing up is never easy. Far less so in a city that refuses to acknowledge the frills of youth as such.
Read
April 12, 2022Back before the gorgeous, divisive jazz fantasy Blue In Green, Ram V and Anand RK collaborated on this very different graphic novel, a much more grounded coming of age piece following kids growing up in a poor district of Mumbai, hanging out at the wall of the title which – as the name suggests – is the canvas for the member of the group who dreams of being an artist. The others have similar hopes – acting, writing, rapping – but in the meantime they're squeezed between their families telling them to get proper jobs, and an underworld which has more lucrative, more dangerous uses for them. What unites the two, of course, is that grinding insistence on being realistic, getting your head down – in other words, giving up. One of the oldest stories in the book, in other words. But there's such life in this telling of it that that barely matters (even if the Comixology 'upgrade' was being particularly temperamental with this one, only showing it to me in double-page spreads and refusing to zoom, which really didn't do the Brandon Graham-style detail and vibrancy of BK's art any favours). Also novel, of course, is that rather than taking place in a small town or suburb somewhere in the Anglosphere, we're in a very different and much more precarious world – the story opens with the next neighbourhood over being declared illegal and razed in its entirety, and while the violence here is common with other works in the field, the routine corruption and intra-Indian racism place extra pitfalls in the paths of these poor bloody kids as they stop being kids. Despite all of which, it still mostly ends up feeling life-affirming when it could easily have subsided into easy miserablism.
November 8, 2021
Graphic novel group book for November 2021.
Oddly mixed feelings on all aspects of this graphic novel. Four stories of four young people clinging to the underside of Mumbai, four stories about how they are kicked around and struggle to find a place.
Everything about it landed inconsistently for me. One kid is a drug dealer and I found his story so generic that it could have taken in any deprived area of any city. But the kid from Manipur's story managed to be vividly evocative of both Mumbai itself and his experience as someone from the far east of India. This sums up the story, some of it was snapshots of a place, grounded and detailed. Others were wafts of stories from anywhere.
The art was likewise hit and miss for me. I'm not always super into the impressionistic style used, although I do like some who use it (at times it was like a less angular Mike Mignola which is a big compliment from me). The art veered from beautiful (mostly city or street level scenes) to alarmingly sloppy. It was a deliberate artistic decision which will work for a lot of people, but it wasn't always for me.
Overall, a perfectly fine read. Not something I would immediately recommend to others, but for someone who has read a lot of graphic novels it would be a nice thing to recommend if they've not read it before.
Oddly mixed feelings on all aspects of this graphic novel. Four stories of four young people clinging to the underside of Mumbai, four stories about how they are kicked around and struggle to find a place.
Everything about it landed inconsistently for me. One kid is a drug dealer and I found his story so generic that it could have taken in any deprived area of any city. But the kid from Manipur's story managed to be vividly evocative of both Mumbai itself and his experience as someone from the far east of India. This sums up the story, some of it was snapshots of a place, grounded and detailed. Others were wafts of stories from anywhere.
The art was likewise hit and miss for me. I'm not always super into the impressionistic style used, although I do like some who use it (at times it was like a less angular Mike Mignola which is a big compliment from me). The art veered from beautiful (mostly city or street level scenes) to alarmingly sloppy. It was a deliberate artistic decision which will work for a lot of people, but it wasn't always for me.
Overall, a perfectly fine read. Not something I would immediately recommend to others, but for someone who has read a lot of graphic novels it would be a nice thing to recommend if they've not read it before.
March 23, 2021
Just read this book once, trust me, it's gonna blow ur mind.
Definitely in my favorites list after Daytripper.
Detailed Non Spoiler review:-
1. Three characters, three different lives, three different paths, one single wall & a similar destination.
This is what this graphic novel is all about.
2. Story set in the classic "slum livelihood" of the Indian city of Mumbai.
3. Very much relatable with current Indian teens.
4. Illustration is not so good, but the story itself will make you forget about the art.
5. If you are facing hardships in your life/ under mental stress/ in depression due to failure, then this book is just for you. It will enlighten you in a way no other things can.
6. Definitely, RAM V at his best again.
Thanks:)
Definitely in my favorites list after Daytripper.
Detailed Non Spoiler review:-
1. Three characters, three different lives, three different paths, one single wall & a similar destination.
This is what this graphic novel is all about.
2. Story set in the classic "slum livelihood" of the Indian city of Mumbai.
3. Very much relatable with current Indian teens.
4. Illustration is not so good, but the story itself will make you forget about the art.
5. If you are facing hardships in your life/ under mental stress/ in depression due to failure, then this book is just for you. It will enlighten you in a way no other things can.
6. Definitely, RAM V at his best again.
Thanks:)
January 17, 2024
I think that Anand Radhakrishnan might be my new favourite comic artist. With strong influenced on his sleeve (Moebius, Katsuhiro Otomo, Taiyō Matsumoto) but his very own take on exaggeration and linework, I really appreciated everything about the artwork and the flow of his characters. The bodies and faces seem so fleshy and real. The environment was well don and simplified to the right extent. Like me, Anand likes drawing rubbish and mess into his scenes. Busy is not a bad thing in a comic about Mumbai nobodies.
Well written and thought provoking, I feel like I have been with these characters for the length of this comic. The great thing about graphic novels - they are so easy to go back and reread.
Well written and thought provoking, I feel like I have been with these characters for the length of this comic. The great thing about graphic novels - they are so easy to go back and reread.
August 28, 2023
Graphic novels / comic books can do things with narrative that regular old prose can't, but with Grafity's Wall I got the impression that the story would've worked better as text. The art is colorful and lively but inconsistent and texturally grimy and disorienting, with characters often looking like their faces are melting or distorted in some other way. The plot is a nice, slightly predictable ensemble coming-of-age story that ticks off the standard tropes with no significant departures from the usual playbook. I found myself rooting for the protagonists while at the same time struggling with the messy artwork and somewhat boring plot. An enjoyable read, though not one I'd revisit.
January 2, 2021
é muito bom ler quadrinhos de países do Sul global. essa história se passa na Índia, mas tem tanto reflexo da gente. o texto do Ram V é sensível, embora às vezes um pouco açucarado pro meu gosto, mas o encontro entre a vida periférica e o desejo de fazer arte rende uma história muito bonita. A essa altura, vou ler qualquer coisa que esse homem escrever. A arte também é incrível, uma complexidade econômica, bagunçada, que se expressa melhor nos próprios grafites do protagonista. Espero que saia aqui um dia.
August 4, 2022
A beautiful collection of young people growing up in Mumbai- Ram v is at the top of his game here. I have read most of what he has written and I’m always struck that he is considered a horror writer. He writes beautifully about the city of Mumbai and the people inside I think he does best when he is thinking about the metaphysical and the positives the wishfulness of youth and dreams not monsters and death, although maybe they go hand in hand.
November 4, 2021
This was a well crafted narrative that had characters whose stories you can recognize in your own, if you've ever dreamed from an impossible place. The art style in the book is kinetic which allows the chaos of Mumbai to come alive off the pages while having an urban Moebius tinged style. I highly recommend reading this book
December 29, 2021
The art style was definitely unique and it was a really different story from many others I've read, but I didn't really enjoy it. The story was too short for me to really care about any of the characters, except maybe Chasma, and the art was a little jarring to look at sometimes. At its core, it was a story about hope, but the actual plot didn't quite stick with me.
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